Vostok+Ice+Cores

= Vostok Ice Cores- Christine Krauss = In 2003 the longest [|ice core] ever drilled was retrieved from the [|Vostok] station in Antarctica, it was dated back to 420,000 years ago and compiled the 4 past [|glacial cycles]. The drilling stopped just above [|Lake Vostok], where there is a layer of water and bedrock stopping the team form drilling further. The scientists now plan to take samples from the water below to investigate past organisms and environments. The Vostok Ice cores are unique not only because they are the deepest ice samples ever taken but also because they were not taken from a high mountain [|ice sheet] or summit glacier. Instead they were taken from a sloped angle, where some of the ice from the above has melted and mixed below with some of the deeper levels of ice, this complicated the dating process and interpretation of data because of the recrystallization (or refreezing) of ice.

(<--- click picture to view citation) The red oval indicates the location of Lake Vostok and the location of the Vostok Station

Did you know Lake Vostok was found by using satellite and ground penetrating radar and is only a short distance from the South Pole. What surprised me is that the water underneath the ice sheet is about 500,000 to a million years old, making the samples extremely important to the scientists. It was nicknamed the "most unspoiled lake on Earth", because water flow from the above regions have not mixed or combined with the lake underneath the ice sheet.

The deeper the ice the older the sample, so an ice core 2,000 meters down would be older than an ice core that is only 500 meter down.
 * Ice cores can determine and record major events like-**
 * Ice Ages
 * Climate changes (warming or freezing)
 * Volcanic eruptions (view Maria Butkov's wikispace for more about volcanic eruptions)
 * Precipitation levels
 * The atmospheres chemical makeup
 * Radioactive substances
 * Solar variability
 * Sea surface productivity
 * Forest fires

The Vostok cores have shown repeated increases and decreases in Carbon dioxide, Methane, and Temperature in the past 420,000 years. (<--click picture to see citation) In order to prevent contamination and melting, the ice cores are kept in plastic sealant and examined in clean rooms that are at a controlled temperature and below freezing. It is required for each scientist to wear clean suits, mittens or gloves, and filtered respirators when examining each 1-2 meter section of the ice core.

Sites and Info used: [|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Glossary] [|National Ice Core Laboratory] [|Polar Trec] [|Cool Antarctica] [|Vostok Station] [|What is Lake Vostok?]